Dangerous drivers flout level crossing rules
- 10 years ago
CCTV released by Network Rail captures motorists and pedestrians putting their lives as risk dashing through level crossing while the red lights are flashing and the level crossing barriers lowering
The number of level crossings on railways in Britain has been cut by 10 per cent since 2010 in an attempt to improve safety, Network Rail has announced.
The closure of a level crossing on the East Coast Main Line in St Neots, Cambridgeshire means 750 have now been shut down in the past four years.
Rail chiefs estimate that the closures have reduced the risk that level crossings pose to the network by 25 per cent overall, and pledged to remove another 500 in the next five years.
Most level crossings are footpath or user worked crossings, on private land and generally operated by landowners, farmers and drivers of delivery or utility vehicles.
Last year there were 10 accidental deaths at level crossings and 10 collisions between trains and road vehicles such as cars.
By the end of March Network Rail said it would have installed 38 footbridges replacing crossings, 57 spoken warning systems, 13 radar obstacle detections systems, 33 barriers, 16 sets of warning lights, 21 safety cameras and 250 power operated gate openers as part of a £131 million investment programme which began in 2010.
On one line a trial of GPS technology is allowing signallers to more accurately trace the location of trains, while at Whitehouse Priory View crossing in Norfolk new 'Wavetrain' sound vibration technology, which uses sound waves to detect incoming trains, is being tested.
Robin Gisby, managing director of network operations for Network Rail, said: "Britain's railway is safer than ever before, but even so there will always be a certain level of risk to motorists or pedestrians where a road, footpath or cycleway crosses the tracks.
"Network Rail is committed to reduce that risk as much as possible and if we are able to close a level crossing, we will."
Ian Prosser, Director of Railway Safety at the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) said: "To remove 750 level crossings or ten per cent of their total in Britain, by April 2014 is a significant achievement.
"Though Britain's level crossings are among the safest in Europe, there is no room for complacency. They still pose a significant risk to the public and ORR has recently announced millions of pounds' worth of extra funding for Network Rail to close or upgrade level crossings in the next five years."
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The number of level crossings on railways in Britain has been cut by 10 per cent since 2010 in an attempt to improve safety, Network Rail has announced.
The closure of a level crossing on the East Coast Main Line in St Neots, Cambridgeshire means 750 have now been shut down in the past four years.
Rail chiefs estimate that the closures have reduced the risk that level crossings pose to the network by 25 per cent overall, and pledged to remove another 500 in the next five years.
Most level crossings are footpath or user worked crossings, on private land and generally operated by landowners, farmers and drivers of delivery or utility vehicles.
Last year there were 10 accidental deaths at level crossings and 10 collisions between trains and road vehicles such as cars.
By the end of March Network Rail said it would have installed 38 footbridges replacing crossings, 57 spoken warning systems, 13 radar obstacle detections systems, 33 barriers, 16 sets of warning lights, 21 safety cameras and 250 power operated gate openers as part of a £131 million investment programme which began in 2010.
On one line a trial of GPS technology is allowing signallers to more accurately trace the location of trains, while at Whitehouse Priory View crossing in Norfolk new 'Wavetrain' sound vibration technology, which uses sound waves to detect incoming trains, is being tested.
Robin Gisby, managing director of network operations for Network Rail, said: "Britain's railway is safer than ever before, but even so there will always be a certain level of risk to motorists or pedestrians where a road, footpath or cycleway crosses the tracks.
"Network Rail is committed to reduce that risk as much as possible and if we are able to close a level crossing, we will."
Ian Prosser, Director of Railway Safety at the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) said: "To remove 750 level crossings or ten per cent of their total in Britain, by April 2014 is a significant achievement.
"Though Britain's level crossings are among the safest in Europe, there is no room for complacency. They still pose a significant risk to the public and ORR has recently announced millions of pounds' worth of extra funding for Network Rail to close or upgrade level crossings in the next five years."
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Telegraph.co.uk and YouTube.com/TelegraphTV are websites of The Daily Telegraph, the UK's best-selling quality daily newspaper providing news and analysis on UK and world events, business, sport, lifestyle and culture.